Etymology From Middle English heiȝwai, heiȝwei, from Old English hēahweġ (“main road, highway”), corresponding to high + way. Compare highgate, high street, high road. Cognate with Scots heaway, heway, hieway, hichway, heichway (“highway”).
1
A main public road, especially a multi-lane, high-speed thoroughfare.
The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
Figuratively A way; a path that leads to a certain destiny.
You're on a highway to greatness.
I'm on the highway to hell1979, “Highway to Hell”, in Highway to Hell, performed by AC/DC:
1 more example
So how do the scientists cope with their work being ignored for decades, and living in a world their findings indicate is on a “highway to hell”?.2024 May 8, Damian Carrington, “‘Hopeless and broken’: why the world’s top climate scientists are in despair. World’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target”, in The Guardian, UK:
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Archaic A road that is major (more heavily traveled and thus more important than a byway), higher than the surrounding land, has drainage ditches at the sides, or has any combination of those traits.
5
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences Synonym of bus (“common connection for two or more circuits or components”).
Etymology From Middle English heiȝwai, heiȝwei, from Old English hēahweġ (“main road, highway”), corresponding to high + way. Compare highgate, high street, high road. Cognate with Scots heaway, heway, hieway, hichway, heichway (“highway”).